English Explained Simply

Is the market economy still the panacea it once was or has it become obsolete with the new type of state-controlled economy that many governments are imposing on international agreements in the name of protectionism as the US administration has recently decided? The economic model that once enriched developed countries was precisely the free-trade economy , based on the quality and price of products as well as their diversity, and of course, on the price-quality ratio. Governments allowed their economic actors to conduct their activities under the control of trade regulations, without interfering in their affairs. The situation has, however, evolved with mass unemployment , which is rampant almost everywhere, a consequence of globalization . This globalization pushes shareholders to seek profit at all costs, incentivizing them to divest unprofitable branches of their companies in order to maximise their gains. Faced with growing popular discontent, often fuelled by unemployment due...

I. WHAT / WHEN / WHERE / WHICH / WHO / WHOSE / WHY / HOW / HOW MUCH / HOW MANY / TO WHAT EXTENT - What are you doing right now? I'm watching a thriller series on Netflix => asks about actions or things. - When did you start English lessons? Early February. => asks about time. - Where is the CEO? He is on his way to headquarters, from northern France to Paris. => asks about place. - Who gave you these books? Anne Lavigne . => asks about people. - Whose car is this? It's hers => asks about possession. - Why didn't you eat at the restaurant? Because I had a busy schedule. => asks about reason or purpose. - How did you get here? By car. => asks about means. - How did you find me here? I was warned by your sister. => asks about manner. - How much does it cost? It costs €10. => asks or talks about the cost of something. - How much butter do you need to make a cake? Check the recipe, but 220g seems to be the ideal amount => asks or talks a...

I. THE ARTICLES A/AN   A and AN are used with countable singular nouns :  1) To introduce a thing or person being mentioned for the first time: - I bought a new car. - We saw a good movie yesterday. - She went to a concert last night. - I spoke to a woman two days ago. 2) With job titles: - She's a bank advisor at the city's main bank. - He is an engineer specializing in road and safety issues. - She became a legal expert in a law firm. However, you can omit the article when referring to a single function: He's a headmaster / He's headmaster of Oakland International High School . 3) To express a general statement: - A cat is smaller than a cheetah . - A toothpick is sharper than a fork tine . 4) In a distributive sense, to indicate prices, frequency or speed: - These avocados cost €1 each, or €4 a kilo. - Take one pain relief tablet two or three times a day. - I was driving at 30 miles per hour downtown. 5) After a preposition: - She took advantage of a loophole in th...

I offer you the first part of some commonly used business expressions that you should learn by heart depending on your priorities. Happy reading! 1) A business loan        =      money gotten from a bank 2) A focus group        =      a bunch of people for market analysis 3) A huge marketing campaign        =      a massive publicity 4) A job benefit      =      an advantage related to the job 5) A lot of cold calling      =      to call unaware of the called party 6) A recruitment drive      =      a recruitment campaign 7) A shop is up for lease      =      ready to be rented anew 8) A sizeable raise      =      an important salary increase 9) Accounts receivable      =      money to be paid ...

You must choose the correct answer from the four options. This exercise is obviously not based on chance. Mastering the rules of conjugation is essential to succeeding in this test.  However, it is sometimes possible to find the correct answer purely by luck. Nevertheless, reviewing the grammar rules is a valuable asset for understanding them fully and memorizing them permanently.     To memorize or review grammatical rules, you can refer to previous posts: ' Present tenses - Past tenses - Present-perfect tenses and Past-perfect tenses ' (dated June 30, 2025) as well as: 'How do the present, past, present-perfect and past-perfect compare' (dated October 10, 2025). The level of this exercise is  B1.  (The answers to this exercise can be found at the bottom of this page). EXERCISE: 1. The doomsayers who predicted you failure in business have so far …  a) to be going unheard.    b) gone unheard.    c) to be unheard.    d...

You are asked to find the correct tense of the verbs in round brackets. To memorize the grammatical rules, you can refer to the previous posts: 'Present tenses-Past tenses-Present-perfect tenses and Past-perfect tenses' (dated June 30, 2025) as well as: 'How do the present, past, present-perfect and past-perfect compare' (dated October 10, 2025). The level of this exercise is A2.  (The answer to the exercise is a little further down). EXERCISE: 1. Water ( boil)  at 100° Celsius . 2. We ( want) to settle here. 3. Cows ( graze)   on the grass. 4.   Stop, you (repeat)   everything I say and it ( be)   not funny! 5 .  Look, she ( misbehave) again.   6. Wild animals ( live) in the jungle. 7.   Look who has just arrived, she ( wear) an orange sweater with electric green pants and black sneakers. 8.   Stop it, they ( get) angry! 9. We ( import)   raw materials to make our products. 10. She ( not know)   how to appreciate ...

Dear learners, there are short expressions that allow you to express past, current and future habits that you often neglect, either because you do not know them or simply because you do not think of using them.  The goal of this post is to make you take them into consideration when talking about habits because they are useful for expressing things in a synthetic and precise way. I. USED TO + INFINITIVE VERB = PAST HABITS A) USE:   Refers to a habit that occurred in the past and is no longer in effect as we speak. We have given up this habit now. B) GRAMMATICAL FORMS: - In a question: did + subject + use to + infinitive verb (Did you get use to ride a bicycle?). - In a positive statement: subject + used to + infinitive verb (I used to ride a bicycle). - In a negative statement: subject + didn't + use to + infinitive verb (I didn't get use to ride a bicycle). II. BE USED TO + ING VERB = CURRENT HABITS A) USE: Refers to a habit that is still in effect as we speak. It means that w...